Day 307: Before and After Photos

Today I want to focus on some problem areas that have given me trouble since day one of withdrawals. Whilst my skin is looking good generally, these stubborn patches will be the last to heal.

Hopefully, as these before and after photos show, there IS progress, albeit slow. I am almost 10 months into withdrawals and seeing improvements every day. I hope these photos encourage people who are going through the same thing. Photos are a great way to gauge your progress.

This a a photo of the palm of my hand a few months ago. I had watery blisters on my palm and my hands were very itchy and red. I was rubbing them all the time.

Here is my hand today. You can see that the redness has faded and there are no blisters. The area on the right is slightly dry, but easily remedied with a little hand cream to keep the skin supple.

My leg early in withdrawals. At this point I could not walk very easily.

My leg today. Sorry about the weird angle, but taking a photo of the back of your leg isn't easy! I scratch this area quite a lot, so it is a little blotchy due to scratching. Again, a blob of moisturiser when I get an urge to scratch is the best therapy.

This is my leg wound that has plagued me since January. The skin would scab over with a papery scab and then the scab would drop off, leaving a wet wound that would not heal. I had to use moist healing methods to treat it, but the wound would keep coming back. I had an identical wound on my other calf too.

This is the same area of skin today. I apologise for the difference in lighting between the two pictures, but the old photo was taken in artificial lighting whereas today's photo was taken in natural daylight. The goosebumps on my skin are due to the sudden cold spell we are having here in the UK! The wound has almost healed and I estimate that if I can hold off the scratching, this area will have normal skin in a few months time. It is quite itchy still, though.

This is a picture that I call "werewolf attack". It shows how strong the urge to scratch can be and was taken a few months ago. My inner arms from the inner elbow to wrist have been really slow to heal.

The same area today. Notice how the redness has faded significantly. It is slightly blotchy and pink, but almost there.

I am so pleased with the way my skin has responded to stopping steroid creams. I expect that within the next few months, things will improve further. I am due a medication review with my nurse next month and plan to show her how well I am doing without the creams. It may make her think twice about prescribing them so often.

I hope the medical establishment wakes up soon and realises the truth about overuse of steroid creams and steroid addiction.